Must hourly workers be paid for preparatory activities?

12:56 PM,
Jan. 14, 2013

Written by

Rebecca Bentz
Special to The Reporter

At first glance, the rules for compensating hourly - a.k.a. non-exempt - workers seem fairly straightforward: These employees must be paid for any time they are working. But what about the time they spend preparing for their shifts? Is that included as working time? In most cases, whether an hourly employee must be paid for this time depends on the situation.Dress codes and uniforms

Many employers prefer that their employees wear uniforms or at least follow a consistent dress code while on duty. Under federal guidance, whether the time spent changing into such clothing must be paid depends ...